And we'll get to see weather Kyle has any mental and moral fiber, because
now Mara's got him, and we all should be able to guess what that means.
Here it is ladies and gentlemen, Chapter 6, Charm of the Hideous.
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- "Come on! Every minute could mean someone's death! And you all don't want to be responsible for that now do you?!"
Zoids of all types ran around franticly, mending and repairing the battered and bashed Fury and Audreniliger. Audreniliger had shut down immediately upon arrival, and Fury was already off-line when he got to base, so it was doubled work. Meanwhile, Audrena was submerged inside both of the CPUs of each of the 'dead' zoids, tinkering with their brains. It was with a doubled work ethic that she labored away into the computer hardware of those two machines, adding in a little surprise. With all the fighting experience that they already had, then the new installments she made would take action immediately. Her fervent work was only the product of knowing what exactly would be happening right now . . .
Hang on Kyle . . .
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"Oh god . . . my head." Blinking blearily, he looked around for a moment, trying to understand why he was on cold and very rough stone instead of in Fury's cockpit or on the pillow in his bedroom on the 5th floor of the Void base. Eyes flying all the way open, he stood quickly, trying to pierce the darkness that surrounded his eyes. It was after a few attempted steps that he realized that his feet were off the ground. After a minute, he tried to read his own bodily signals, trying to figure out where he was and what sort of position to get out. Pain in his wrists told that he was hanging by them. The cold of the dank stone against his chest told that someone had taken his shirt off. Judging on how his cheek was pressed against the wall, he had been chained to the wall face first as well.
"Well, I'm in a bind . . ." He said to no one in particular.
"Audrena?" He called, having some vague hope that this was some kind of prank. This place was really starting to unnerve him.
"No, you witless boy," A voice out of the gloom chimed, almost seducing in quality. Kyle gulped. That was most certainly NOT Audrena's voice.
"Your lover isn't here to save you." Kyle blinked. That was a bit of a shocker.
"You sick minded . . . person! She isn't my lover!" He cried indignantly, then added, looking up thoughtfully. "Though sometimes I wish she was, but that's beside the point!" There was a cold chuckle from beyond his vision.
"Who are you anyway?" He inquired, trying to get off the subject. Mara took the bait, though she knew what she was getting into.
"What's in a name anyway?"
"Your identity?"
"Shut up!" The feminine voice snapped, the sound of something leather being unfurled adding to the sounds. "If you're so desperate for my name, it's Mara. Mara Void to be exact."
Kyle's heart stopped for a moment out of shock, the hairs on the back of his neck going up. He remembered what Audrena had said about Mara, her fraternal twin with extraordinary abilities, not with machines, but with her own body . . . Mara noticed the pause and grinned evilly. Good. He recognized her name.
"Yes, the Mara Void, the one that my damnable sister fears so much." Kyle blinked, trying to see Mara's form in the shadows. He only got a hint of the figure-outline, and it sent more shivers down his spine. Hearing footsteps, he could tell that this 'Mara' was approaching him. The half- saiyan, plotting wicked things for him in her mind, ran a forefinger down the side of his fairly well muscled back, enjoying the fact that he did his best to shrink away from his abductor.
"Tell me, what would Audrena do if I killed you? Or better yet tortured you until your body gave out form the pain overload?"
Kyle made a noise like that of a mouse being stepped on.
"T-tata-ta-torture!?" He stuttered, his voice a little higher pitched then normal from sheer terror. If all the things that Audrena told him about her sister were true, then he was done for. The cackle that he heard after his statement scared him even more. His gray eyes went wide, and he gulped, terrified out of his mind. Removing his cheek from the stone, he put his forehead on the rock wall instead.
Help me! He thought desperately, as though someone could hear him, and seriously wishing someone would hear his pleading. Fury, Audrena, Audreniliger, anyone! I'm at the disposal of a madwoman! HELP!
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Fury's eyes shone gray as he hauled himself to his feet along with Audreniliger, the both of them feeling quite strange.
"Err . . . I feel different."
"Yeah, me too. You know what's up?"
"Nope. You?"
"Nope." The both of them blinked, staring back at all the eyes that were staring at them.
"Ok, what's going o-" Audreniliger started, but stopped in mid- sentence as the new installations Audrena put in began to take effect. The liger let loose a roar; the entire form gleaming bright white as every part began to undergo metamorphosis. The armor bleached white, the joints dyed red, the legs became normal liger legs, and the head changed as well, the eyes going to green. Curved metal blades started to pop out in a long line starting from the top of her head and extending down her back, all the way to her tail, where a massive curved scythe sprouted her tail. Two blades also sprouted on either cheek, along with on either side of each joint on the legs. Every sickle on the liger's body had the point extending towards the back, giving it a stream-likes look. The whole body was white now, and each of the metal scythes on her body cracked and hummed with electricity. The liger let out another roar, feeling quite powerful in this new form. Fury gaped, and looked very stupid for a moment.
"Whoa . . ."
"I dub thee," Audrena cried, stepping out of the shadows. "The Scythe Liger!"
"YES! This is great! Look at me! My legs match! I'm color coordinated!" Scythe whooped, running in a small circle in her joy. She stopped and started swinging the huge blade on her tail around in whistling arcs. "And these blades rock!"
"Rock?" Fury raised an eyebrow.
"It's the only think I could come up with, so there!" Scythe rushed, striking a pose. Fury sniffed pathetically.
"I wanna get some of tho-" Fury's sentence was cut off when he too began to experience the strange mutation to his form. His body became slimmer, the armor quickly shading black. On his feet grew three massive cutting claws, each a strange green tint. Two curving metal spiked outlined his eyes on either side, curling around his skull to almost meet behind his head, and voltage connected the two points. What appeared to be a massive cannon of some sort sprouted from his tail, and lastly, 4 dragonfly-like wings sprang from his shoulders. They were nowhere near big enough to support him in flight, but some kind of acid green jelly like membrane filled in the space between the looped metal. More currents formed the veins for these 'wings', and the transformation was complete. Fury blinked, then looked at himself, and let out a wail of despair.
"Like your Zoid Evolutions? As you gain experience in battle, you will evolve to different shapes, and your advantages and disadvantages will both increase." Troden grinned widely, but Audrena kicked him.
"That was my line!"
"Noooooooooo! I'm evil looking!" The zoid that used to be Fury whined. Scythe whapped him and Audrena laughed.
"You are now the Nitric Fury. Deal with it. Now let's go get your pilot and get this over with!"
"Yahoo!" Nitric squealed, grinning idiotically as Audrena climbed into Scythe's cockpit. She smirked, her eyes blazing with determination and confidence.
Hang in there Kyle. We're coming . . .
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Kyle's hands trembled in the irons that held his wrists, gritting his teeth against the fire that was his back. In all of his life, never before had he felt such pain, internal or external. Mara wasn't kidding when she said torture. His back looked like raw hamburger from her whip. She had been merciless in the brutal thrashing, and now he knew why Audrena hated her so much. He couldn't imagine taking 15 years of this and not breathing a word to anyone about it.
He thanked the stone for being moist and cold against his fevered brow, sweat coursing from his pores. This was one of his 'rest periods' that Mara had permitted, where she didn't hurt him, but it was a precious hour compared the long hours of both mental and physical pain. Sometimes she would taunt him more then whip him, and that taunting, what torment could compare to it! She could read his mind like an open book, she could see into all of his fears, his hopes, his fantasies (he's only human, what can you expect?), his mishaps, his mistakes, his most embarrassing moments, everything. Mara would reveal them, even ones that he had forgotten, bringing them to mind, but the things that hurt the most, was when she went off on his romantic affinity . . .
~"So!" She started, sitting down in a chair behind him, her whip in hand, but currently at rest. Kyle let his teeth unclench. He would have to talk back, just keep those lashes away from his bleeding skin. "I was looking in your brain, and I found the most interesting sight that I have ever seen!" She sounded ecstatic over absolutely nothing.
"Let me guess," Kyle muttered dryly, looking to the side with fresh loathing in his hazel eyes. "Something along the lines of some kind of fantasy."
"How'd you know?" Mara let out a giggle, though in the way it sounded, it shouldn't have been a giggle.
"I'm the one who made them up Mara." He replied curtly, still glaring off into space. "I try and catalog them, so that I can pull them up for future reference."
"You treat your brain as though it's a computer . . . but nonetheless, even your own brain was reluctant to let me see this one." She closed her eyes, and her forehead furrowed. Kyle blinked, then watched as one of his own little daydreams came up and played before his eyes. He blinked, looking at the stone wall as though it was a movie screen. He had just dreamed this a few days ago. A few minutes later, his eyes snapped open again, and he was blushing furiously. He never wanted ANYONE except himself to see that one; much less his new worst enemy.
"What do you get out of this Mara? Do you find some sort of pleasure in humiliating me?" Kyle sighed, feeling like his face was inside a frying pan. Mara grinned. She got him there.
"Actually, yes. It's quite entertaining to watch your version of carrying Audrena off and making mad l-"
"OK I GET THE POINT!" Kyle screeched, not wanting to hear anymore about his reveries every again. If anyone was going to critique them, it was going to be him and him only! Mara let out a laugh; this was so much fun! He looked like a strawberry with chocolate fondue on the top, he was so red!~
He hung limply in his manacles, hoping that he hadn't wasted his time going over the past few hours, when in fact, his time was up. He heard a door close, along with the sloshing of something in a pail. "Rise and shine, Kyle boy!" Mara shouted cheerfully, throwing the scalding saltwater onto his raw back. Pain racked Kyle's whole body. He could feel the open flesh on his back being parboiled, and it was agonizing, the salt making it worse. He groaned through gritted teeth, not wanting Mara to get the satisfaction of hearing him cry out in his suffering. But the most aggravating thing of all was that he heard giggling over it everything.
"You bitch . . ." He spat maliciously, his hatred not being affected by his mental exhaustion. That caused another laugh.
"Look Obscura," She stated in a business like tone, as though flogging and nearly boiling a man were every day activities, which, in her case, probably was.
"I'm only doing this to hurt my sister. None of this is really meant toward you, I have no grudge against you. It's just that I know my sister, being the heroin-wannabe that she is, will come galloping on the scene to come and rescue her dear sweethea-"
"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?! SHE DOESN'T EVEN GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ME, GOT IT?!?" He sighed, shaking his head as best he could.
"Good god," Kyle muttered. "I feel like a broken record." Blinking, he heard something sparking behind him. A horrible thought dawning on him, he wished he hadn't even opened his mouth.
"I wasn't finished." Mara said coldly, all mirth and playful malevolence gone from her voice. "You interrupted me." Kyle heard the chair Mara sat in squeak, meaning that she was now standing. 'Uh oh . . .'
"So far you have only received a taste of how cruel I can really be. A small appetizer. Now," The sparking noise was replaced by a humming pitch, which unnerved the very unfortunate Kyle even more.
"Get an entrée of how unmerciful I really am!"
Kyle had no idea what she did to him, but whatever it was, it felt like he had just been thrown into the 7th circle of Hell. He did his best not to scream, instead he howled behind his teeth. The agony was intense; it was all he could do not to scream. Had a thousand white-hot butcher knives been shoved into every square inch of his skin at the same time, he would have felt deep relief. Had he been dropped into a vat of boiling sulfuric acid, Kyle would have felt a whole set better. That was the level of pain he was in, quivering in his chains, trying not to black out.
"That, my dear pilot," Mara quipped, sounding happy that Kyle was in complete agony. "Was a Pain Ball, designed solely by my mother." She gave out a happy little chuckle. "It over-stimulates every nerve in the body to signal incredible pain, even though there is no nerve damage in real life. It's the perfect mental torture devise, because there is no bodily damage, but the brain is completely overwhelmed! And another thing, it never wears off! Not unless I withdraw the energy, otherwise you're stuck like this, suffering for hours on end!"
Kyle's fingernails dug into his palm until they bled, his eyes shut tightly against his suffering. He honestly didn't know how long she would keep him like this, but he hated her now with every fiber of his being.
"Oh, I can just see Audrena's face when she finally finds out where you are and comes here, only to find your body, still warm but with a look of pure horror frozen on your face! What guilt she will feel that she wasn't here in time to save her friend!" Kyle's face contorted in sad acceptance. He was just a pawn in all this, a sibling fight blown far out of proportions. So she was going to kill him . . . he shouldn't be depressed about it. After all, no one but his zoid would really care if he were gone. No matter how much he wished and hoped that that statement wasn't true, it probably was. A quote he had remembered seeing once somewhere floated up, and now he understood the truth in it.
'"Sometimes... you can cry until there is nothing wet in you. You can scream and curse to where your throat rebels and ruptures. You can pray all you want, to whatever god you think will listen. And still, it makes NO difference. It goes on, with no sign as to when it might release you. And you know that if it ever did relent...it would not be because it cared."'
When he felt like something was being sucked from his body, he went limp, the burning of his cooked back a welcome. Turning his head, he put his temple to the wall and panted slowly, thanking god for letting him survive that. Coming back to hazy reality, he left someone next to him and he shrank away, knowing who it was, but not in time to avoid a cold finger on his cheek. The perfectly painted but razor sharp nail cut the skin as it went down, bleeding like a normal paper cut.
"And to think," Mara whispered, on the brink of laughing at him. "That was only level one. Level 2 is ten fold worse then what you just experienced." Even in the dark, you could see how pale he went. There was a cackle as she turned to leave the room, and a sudden idea struck Kyle's battered mind. Perhaps he could stall for time; after all, living in pain is better then the emptiness of death, isn't it? He blinked, trying to think of something that would really sting his torturer. 'Wait a second, Audrena said she was very vain . . .'
"Just so you know," He started placidly, sounding as though he had not a care in the world, though in truth he was wishing he had never even considered the idea. "I've seen cows with smaller rear ends." The sound of shoe rubber squeaking on the floor from a sudden stop echoed around the large room.
"What?" Mara retorted; her voice so venomous and spiteful it almost scared him. He gained a little bit of courage from this, and he smirked at her, the rims of his hazel eyes gleaming blue.
"You heard me, or maybe the titanic-sized folds of fat on your neck absorbed the sound? Shall I repeat myself?" He tried not to giggle. Even though he was scared to death of what would happen if he continued, he was having the time of his life insulting the half-saiyan. He could hear Mara coming toward him. That's right, you god-forsaken dog-dropping, come 'ere and get what you deserve.
"And have I mentioned those talons that you call nails? My Berserk Fury takes better care of his claws then you with those pincers that you call nails! Ha!" He threw in one that was from Ancient Earth; one that he found very amusing.
"You're mother was a hamster," He added, shouting the last bit in a horribly done French accent. "And your father smelt of elderberries!" He kept his smirk, though he wanted to burst out laughing at this weird comment. He mirth was plugged when he started feeling hot breath against the side of his face.
"Folds of fat?" Mara hissed venomously, her whisper seething with menace. "I was considering letting you off, but that did you in!"
Kyle shuddered, hearing the unfurling of the whip. 'I really shouldn't have opened my big mouth . . .'
"Taste leather strips, you despicable boy!"
Kyle's hands curled into fists, his teeth clenching together as the whip bit into his freshly scabbing back, the bleeding starting all over again. He did what he had been doing for the past few hours to escape the pain, putting his head against the wall and distancing himself from his consciousness, trying to lose it. Kyle never could fully get away from his bodily pain, so he received it anyway, a solitary tear trickling down the side of his cheek from the relentless scourging.
'Where are you Audrena?'
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The two pumped and ready to rumble zoids approached the squat building. Audrena scowled at the stone structure.
"Should of known Mara would live in a bunker like that."
"So how shall we make our entrance?" Nitric asked, looking at the seemingly door-less structure. Audrena lowered her head, thinking hard, but always keeping her intense dark brown gaze on that stone building. She didn't raise her head when the thought came to her, but she grinned sadistically to signal it.
"The only way I know how."
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"Had enough?" Mara barked, her knuckles white on the lash handle. Kyle's back was now streaming and dripping blood, the red liquid pooling beneath him. His vision began to swim before him from blood loss, and he did his best to keep from blacking out. He kept his silence though, and that infuriated his captor. Mara growled, raising the whip for another round . . .
The stone wall two inches from where Kyle was hanging burst inwards, the stone exploding outwards from the battering ram that was Scythe's skull. Dust flew everywhere, blanketing the scene in a cloud of black-gray powder. Mara threw herself to the ground to avoid the spray. When she looked up though, she found two extremely bloodthirsty-looking zoids hovering over her, ready to squash her like a little annoying wasp. Mara let out a growl, sitting up, her eyes glowing green and her hands starting to gather energy . . .
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The chains that had been holding Kyle's legs to the wall broke loose from the sheer shaking of that stone wall when it was broken through. By this time though, he was too numb in his mind to notice. Though he did notice when the iron holding his left hand was snapped off, leaving him hanging by his right. He lifted his eyes tiredly to look up at what was burning through his chains, and he let himself fall when those shackles came undone. He winced, his back going aflame by the mere touch of a steadying hand to his shoulder, even when somebody caught him as he fell, soft arms going around his chest to slow his fall. Through the haze that was his vision, he vaguely recognized a fairly tanned oval blob hovering over him; the rest revolving so quickly he couldn't exactly make the background out.
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Audrena did her best to find a flat and debris-less part of the floor, dragging him as gently as she could. Finding such a spot, she had to curl him on his side because the area was very narrow, and she couldn't risk infection. She had seen the pool of blood on the floor when she first came in, and was now curious at what the extent of the damage was. Kneeling next to him, she leaned over, looking at his back. She turned her head as quickly as she could, feeling like she was going to be sick. So, Mara hadn't lost her touch in all these years. Instead, she turned her attention to his face, hoping he was at least conscious, and she wasn't dealing with a cadaver.
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Kyle tried his best to grin, but his face didn't really want to. So instead, he tried to make visual contact with Audrena, to try and get his message across. He did end up smiling, through his eyes. He hoped Audrena would see it.
"Knew you'd come Audren." He murmured in the loudest voice he could muster at that moment, sounding strained and exhausted but grateful and happy at the same time. Audren. So what if it wasn't her full name? It'll be a nickname for her, at least, that what he'd call her. All this stumbled through his listless brain; it had certainly seen better days.
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With a large pistol-like injection needle, Audrena inoculated him with a convalescent hypo; a drug chemically engineered to stimulate intense healing speed, so the patient would be up and about within minutes. It only worked on muscle, skin, and nerve damage, and it couldn't repair everything, but it was the best that she could do in a short amount of time. She risked a glance at his face and caught sight of something strange. He was smiling at her, well, at least trying to. But his silver- grey eyes were shining with gratitude and livid trust. She blinked, confused.
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"Knew you'd come Audren." He whispered hoarsely, and from his voice, she could tell that Mara had gotten him pretty well. Despite herself, she could feel her eyes stinging, the forerunner of tears in her eyes. Audren, a pet name for her, a sobriquet only for her. She stared back into his eyes for a moment, reading him like an open book. He was so innocent, so completely innocent . . . he shouldn't be here, suffering like this. He shouldn't have been in such afflictions as this; he should be out with normal people, living a normal life, instead of caught up in this deadly chess game. Incredible guilt was heavy on Audrena's shoulders in that moment.
'One long past decision dragged you unwillingly and unknowingly into this mess.' She thought to herself, running the back of her fingers along his jaw line in an attempt to comfort him in his pain. She rejected it, but knew that this was a warning sign that Mara had shown, of what was going to happen to her. 'You suffered because of my sister's hatred for me. You were caught, like so many others before you, in this stupid rivalry that should had ended years ago, if Mara had let old feelings go like any sane person should have. I'll try not to let that happen again . . .'
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Focused for a few moments that seem to stretch for a few cherished hours, Audrena's face slid back into the blur that was creeping back over his vision. He vaguely felt the hand that was stroking his cheek, and a strange feeling came out of it. An unusual, but very pleasant thought came to his muddled mind, and the tone in his eyes changed for a moment to reflect that thought before he passed out quietly from blood loss, the convalescent hypo having not restored his blood levels yet.
She could have gone on thinking at him, trying to atone for what she had dragged him into, but was shocked out of her chain of thought when she saw a dramatic change in the emotions in his eyes. It was something she had only seen in the movies, or with zoids on whom she had installed the experimental reproductive systems.
A tender gaze, from hazel eyes that never lied.
A loving look, delivered from a glance that stung her heart like a poisoned arrowhead. No way! This couldn't happen! It was impossible! No one cared! She had lived by the code all her life, and now . . . someone loved her? Audrena shook her head violently. No way! It can't happen. It's never happened, and it never will happen. She shook it off, looking down at Kyle's face cautiously, only to see that he had gone unconscious. Two things went off, a warning bell and a mental sigh of relief, but she shook it off. Remembering that Mara was here too, her long-lived hatred and boiling anger resurfaced, doubled in strength by the fact that her friend had been hurt . . .
Audrena took one last look into Kyle's face with an apologetic gaze, turning her head to Mara, standing there victoriously over the fallen Scythe, numerous burnt holes in the snow-white armor. Fury was still there, but had backed away, nudging the frozen liger's carcass. The zoid pilot's eyes narrowed, the irises of her eyes actually turning black as she rose, a red rim beginning to appear in the unconceivably enraged Audrena's eyes. The silence and tension between the two sisters rose to a fevered pitch, until Audrena, not being able to hold it in anymore, curled her small fists and let out a bellowed growl, almost animal-like in it's fervor.
"MAAAAAARAAAAAA!" -
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Woo! *Pats Kyle* Poor Kyle! He got tortured! But he's going to get his revenge, as will Audrena, in the chapter coming up next, where the conflict will make the fight you have with your parents or siblings look like child's-play! See you at Chapter 7, A Year's Hello and a Minute's Goodbye! (I'm finally using that chapter name! Yay!)
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- "Come on! Every minute could mean someone's death! And you all don't want to be responsible for that now do you?!"
Zoids of all types ran around franticly, mending and repairing the battered and bashed Fury and Audreniliger. Audreniliger had shut down immediately upon arrival, and Fury was already off-line when he got to base, so it was doubled work. Meanwhile, Audrena was submerged inside both of the CPUs of each of the 'dead' zoids, tinkering with their brains. It was with a doubled work ethic that she labored away into the computer hardware of those two machines, adding in a little surprise. With all the fighting experience that they already had, then the new installments she made would take action immediately. Her fervent work was only the product of knowing what exactly would be happening right now . . .
Hang on Kyle . . .
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"Oh god . . . my head." Blinking blearily, he looked around for a moment, trying to understand why he was on cold and very rough stone instead of in Fury's cockpit or on the pillow in his bedroom on the 5th floor of the Void base. Eyes flying all the way open, he stood quickly, trying to pierce the darkness that surrounded his eyes. It was after a few attempted steps that he realized that his feet were off the ground. After a minute, he tried to read his own bodily signals, trying to figure out where he was and what sort of position to get out. Pain in his wrists told that he was hanging by them. The cold of the dank stone against his chest told that someone had taken his shirt off. Judging on how his cheek was pressed against the wall, he had been chained to the wall face first as well.
"Well, I'm in a bind . . ." He said to no one in particular.
"Audrena?" He called, having some vague hope that this was some kind of prank. This place was really starting to unnerve him.
"No, you witless boy," A voice out of the gloom chimed, almost seducing in quality. Kyle gulped. That was most certainly NOT Audrena's voice.
"Your lover isn't here to save you." Kyle blinked. That was a bit of a shocker.
"You sick minded . . . person! She isn't my lover!" He cried indignantly, then added, looking up thoughtfully. "Though sometimes I wish she was, but that's beside the point!" There was a cold chuckle from beyond his vision.
"Who are you anyway?" He inquired, trying to get off the subject. Mara took the bait, though she knew what she was getting into.
"What's in a name anyway?"
"Your identity?"
"Shut up!" The feminine voice snapped, the sound of something leather being unfurled adding to the sounds. "If you're so desperate for my name, it's Mara. Mara Void to be exact."
Kyle's heart stopped for a moment out of shock, the hairs on the back of his neck going up. He remembered what Audrena had said about Mara, her fraternal twin with extraordinary abilities, not with machines, but with her own body . . . Mara noticed the pause and grinned evilly. Good. He recognized her name.
"Yes, the Mara Void, the one that my damnable sister fears so much." Kyle blinked, trying to see Mara's form in the shadows. He only got a hint of the figure-outline, and it sent more shivers down his spine. Hearing footsteps, he could tell that this 'Mara' was approaching him. The half- saiyan, plotting wicked things for him in her mind, ran a forefinger down the side of his fairly well muscled back, enjoying the fact that he did his best to shrink away from his abductor.
"Tell me, what would Audrena do if I killed you? Or better yet tortured you until your body gave out form the pain overload?"
Kyle made a noise like that of a mouse being stepped on.
"T-tata-ta-torture!?" He stuttered, his voice a little higher pitched then normal from sheer terror. If all the things that Audrena told him about her sister were true, then he was done for. The cackle that he heard after his statement scared him even more. His gray eyes went wide, and he gulped, terrified out of his mind. Removing his cheek from the stone, he put his forehead on the rock wall instead.
Help me! He thought desperately, as though someone could hear him, and seriously wishing someone would hear his pleading. Fury, Audrena, Audreniliger, anyone! I'm at the disposal of a madwoman! HELP!
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Fury's eyes shone gray as he hauled himself to his feet along with Audreniliger, the both of them feeling quite strange.
"Err . . . I feel different."
"Yeah, me too. You know what's up?"
"Nope. You?"
"Nope." The both of them blinked, staring back at all the eyes that were staring at them.
"Ok, what's going o-" Audreniliger started, but stopped in mid- sentence as the new installations Audrena put in began to take effect. The liger let loose a roar; the entire form gleaming bright white as every part began to undergo metamorphosis. The armor bleached white, the joints dyed red, the legs became normal liger legs, and the head changed as well, the eyes going to green. Curved metal blades started to pop out in a long line starting from the top of her head and extending down her back, all the way to her tail, where a massive curved scythe sprouted her tail. Two blades also sprouted on either cheek, along with on either side of each joint on the legs. Every sickle on the liger's body had the point extending towards the back, giving it a stream-likes look. The whole body was white now, and each of the metal scythes on her body cracked and hummed with electricity. The liger let out another roar, feeling quite powerful in this new form. Fury gaped, and looked very stupid for a moment.
"Whoa . . ."
"I dub thee," Audrena cried, stepping out of the shadows. "The Scythe Liger!"
"YES! This is great! Look at me! My legs match! I'm color coordinated!" Scythe whooped, running in a small circle in her joy. She stopped and started swinging the huge blade on her tail around in whistling arcs. "And these blades rock!"
"Rock?" Fury raised an eyebrow.
"It's the only think I could come up with, so there!" Scythe rushed, striking a pose. Fury sniffed pathetically.
"I wanna get some of tho-" Fury's sentence was cut off when he too began to experience the strange mutation to his form. His body became slimmer, the armor quickly shading black. On his feet grew three massive cutting claws, each a strange green tint. Two curving metal spiked outlined his eyes on either side, curling around his skull to almost meet behind his head, and voltage connected the two points. What appeared to be a massive cannon of some sort sprouted from his tail, and lastly, 4 dragonfly-like wings sprang from his shoulders. They were nowhere near big enough to support him in flight, but some kind of acid green jelly like membrane filled in the space between the looped metal. More currents formed the veins for these 'wings', and the transformation was complete. Fury blinked, then looked at himself, and let out a wail of despair.
"Like your Zoid Evolutions? As you gain experience in battle, you will evolve to different shapes, and your advantages and disadvantages will both increase." Troden grinned widely, but Audrena kicked him.
"That was my line!"
"Noooooooooo! I'm evil looking!" The zoid that used to be Fury whined. Scythe whapped him and Audrena laughed.
"You are now the Nitric Fury. Deal with it. Now let's go get your pilot and get this over with!"
"Yahoo!" Nitric squealed, grinning idiotically as Audrena climbed into Scythe's cockpit. She smirked, her eyes blazing with determination and confidence.
Hang in there Kyle. We're coming . . .
-
-
Kyle's hands trembled in the irons that held his wrists, gritting his teeth against the fire that was his back. In all of his life, never before had he felt such pain, internal or external. Mara wasn't kidding when she said torture. His back looked like raw hamburger from her whip. She had been merciless in the brutal thrashing, and now he knew why Audrena hated her so much. He couldn't imagine taking 15 years of this and not breathing a word to anyone about it.
He thanked the stone for being moist and cold against his fevered brow, sweat coursing from his pores. This was one of his 'rest periods' that Mara had permitted, where she didn't hurt him, but it was a precious hour compared the long hours of both mental and physical pain. Sometimes she would taunt him more then whip him, and that taunting, what torment could compare to it! She could read his mind like an open book, she could see into all of his fears, his hopes, his fantasies (he's only human, what can you expect?), his mishaps, his mistakes, his most embarrassing moments, everything. Mara would reveal them, even ones that he had forgotten, bringing them to mind, but the things that hurt the most, was when she went off on his romantic affinity . . .
~"So!" She started, sitting down in a chair behind him, her whip in hand, but currently at rest. Kyle let his teeth unclench. He would have to talk back, just keep those lashes away from his bleeding skin. "I was looking in your brain, and I found the most interesting sight that I have ever seen!" She sounded ecstatic over absolutely nothing.
"Let me guess," Kyle muttered dryly, looking to the side with fresh loathing in his hazel eyes. "Something along the lines of some kind of fantasy."
"How'd you know?" Mara let out a giggle, though in the way it sounded, it shouldn't have been a giggle.
"I'm the one who made them up Mara." He replied curtly, still glaring off into space. "I try and catalog them, so that I can pull them up for future reference."
"You treat your brain as though it's a computer . . . but nonetheless, even your own brain was reluctant to let me see this one." She closed her eyes, and her forehead furrowed. Kyle blinked, then watched as one of his own little daydreams came up and played before his eyes. He blinked, looking at the stone wall as though it was a movie screen. He had just dreamed this a few days ago. A few minutes later, his eyes snapped open again, and he was blushing furiously. He never wanted ANYONE except himself to see that one; much less his new worst enemy.
"What do you get out of this Mara? Do you find some sort of pleasure in humiliating me?" Kyle sighed, feeling like his face was inside a frying pan. Mara grinned. She got him there.
"Actually, yes. It's quite entertaining to watch your version of carrying Audrena off and making mad l-"
"OK I GET THE POINT!" Kyle screeched, not wanting to hear anymore about his reveries every again. If anyone was going to critique them, it was going to be him and him only! Mara let out a laugh; this was so much fun! He looked like a strawberry with chocolate fondue on the top, he was so red!~
He hung limply in his manacles, hoping that he hadn't wasted his time going over the past few hours, when in fact, his time was up. He heard a door close, along with the sloshing of something in a pail. "Rise and shine, Kyle boy!" Mara shouted cheerfully, throwing the scalding saltwater onto his raw back. Pain racked Kyle's whole body. He could feel the open flesh on his back being parboiled, and it was agonizing, the salt making it worse. He groaned through gritted teeth, not wanting Mara to get the satisfaction of hearing him cry out in his suffering. But the most aggravating thing of all was that he heard giggling over it everything.
"You bitch . . ." He spat maliciously, his hatred not being affected by his mental exhaustion. That caused another laugh.
"Look Obscura," She stated in a business like tone, as though flogging and nearly boiling a man were every day activities, which, in her case, probably was.
"I'm only doing this to hurt my sister. None of this is really meant toward you, I have no grudge against you. It's just that I know my sister, being the heroin-wannabe that she is, will come galloping on the scene to come and rescue her dear sweethea-"
"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?! SHE DOESN'T EVEN GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ME, GOT IT?!?" He sighed, shaking his head as best he could.
"Good god," Kyle muttered. "I feel like a broken record." Blinking, he heard something sparking behind him. A horrible thought dawning on him, he wished he hadn't even opened his mouth.
"I wasn't finished." Mara said coldly, all mirth and playful malevolence gone from her voice. "You interrupted me." Kyle heard the chair Mara sat in squeak, meaning that she was now standing. 'Uh oh . . .'
"So far you have only received a taste of how cruel I can really be. A small appetizer. Now," The sparking noise was replaced by a humming pitch, which unnerved the very unfortunate Kyle even more.
"Get an entrée of how unmerciful I really am!"
Kyle had no idea what she did to him, but whatever it was, it felt like he had just been thrown into the 7th circle of Hell. He did his best not to scream, instead he howled behind his teeth. The agony was intense; it was all he could do not to scream. Had a thousand white-hot butcher knives been shoved into every square inch of his skin at the same time, he would have felt deep relief. Had he been dropped into a vat of boiling sulfuric acid, Kyle would have felt a whole set better. That was the level of pain he was in, quivering in his chains, trying not to black out.
"That, my dear pilot," Mara quipped, sounding happy that Kyle was in complete agony. "Was a Pain Ball, designed solely by my mother." She gave out a happy little chuckle. "It over-stimulates every nerve in the body to signal incredible pain, even though there is no nerve damage in real life. It's the perfect mental torture devise, because there is no bodily damage, but the brain is completely overwhelmed! And another thing, it never wears off! Not unless I withdraw the energy, otherwise you're stuck like this, suffering for hours on end!"
Kyle's fingernails dug into his palm until they bled, his eyes shut tightly against his suffering. He honestly didn't know how long she would keep him like this, but he hated her now with every fiber of his being.
"Oh, I can just see Audrena's face when she finally finds out where you are and comes here, only to find your body, still warm but with a look of pure horror frozen on your face! What guilt she will feel that she wasn't here in time to save her friend!" Kyle's face contorted in sad acceptance. He was just a pawn in all this, a sibling fight blown far out of proportions. So she was going to kill him . . . he shouldn't be depressed about it. After all, no one but his zoid would really care if he were gone. No matter how much he wished and hoped that that statement wasn't true, it probably was. A quote he had remembered seeing once somewhere floated up, and now he understood the truth in it.
'"Sometimes... you can cry until there is nothing wet in you. You can scream and curse to where your throat rebels and ruptures. You can pray all you want, to whatever god you think will listen. And still, it makes NO difference. It goes on, with no sign as to when it might release you. And you know that if it ever did relent...it would not be because it cared."'
When he felt like something was being sucked from his body, he went limp, the burning of his cooked back a welcome. Turning his head, he put his temple to the wall and panted slowly, thanking god for letting him survive that. Coming back to hazy reality, he left someone next to him and he shrank away, knowing who it was, but not in time to avoid a cold finger on his cheek. The perfectly painted but razor sharp nail cut the skin as it went down, bleeding like a normal paper cut.
"And to think," Mara whispered, on the brink of laughing at him. "That was only level one. Level 2 is ten fold worse then what you just experienced." Even in the dark, you could see how pale he went. There was a cackle as she turned to leave the room, and a sudden idea struck Kyle's battered mind. Perhaps he could stall for time; after all, living in pain is better then the emptiness of death, isn't it? He blinked, trying to think of something that would really sting his torturer. 'Wait a second, Audrena said she was very vain . . .'
"Just so you know," He started placidly, sounding as though he had not a care in the world, though in truth he was wishing he had never even considered the idea. "I've seen cows with smaller rear ends." The sound of shoe rubber squeaking on the floor from a sudden stop echoed around the large room.
"What?" Mara retorted; her voice so venomous and spiteful it almost scared him. He gained a little bit of courage from this, and he smirked at her, the rims of his hazel eyes gleaming blue.
"You heard me, or maybe the titanic-sized folds of fat on your neck absorbed the sound? Shall I repeat myself?" He tried not to giggle. Even though he was scared to death of what would happen if he continued, he was having the time of his life insulting the half-saiyan. He could hear Mara coming toward him. That's right, you god-forsaken dog-dropping, come 'ere and get what you deserve.
"And have I mentioned those talons that you call nails? My Berserk Fury takes better care of his claws then you with those pincers that you call nails! Ha!" He threw in one that was from Ancient Earth; one that he found very amusing.
"You're mother was a hamster," He added, shouting the last bit in a horribly done French accent. "And your father smelt of elderberries!" He kept his smirk, though he wanted to burst out laughing at this weird comment. He mirth was plugged when he started feeling hot breath against the side of his face.
"Folds of fat?" Mara hissed venomously, her whisper seething with menace. "I was considering letting you off, but that did you in!"
Kyle shuddered, hearing the unfurling of the whip. 'I really shouldn't have opened my big mouth . . .'
"Taste leather strips, you despicable boy!"
Kyle's hands curled into fists, his teeth clenching together as the whip bit into his freshly scabbing back, the bleeding starting all over again. He did what he had been doing for the past few hours to escape the pain, putting his head against the wall and distancing himself from his consciousness, trying to lose it. Kyle never could fully get away from his bodily pain, so he received it anyway, a solitary tear trickling down the side of his cheek from the relentless scourging.
'Where are you Audrena?'
-
-
The two pumped and ready to rumble zoids approached the squat building. Audrena scowled at the stone structure.
"Should of known Mara would live in a bunker like that."
"So how shall we make our entrance?" Nitric asked, looking at the seemingly door-less structure. Audrena lowered her head, thinking hard, but always keeping her intense dark brown gaze on that stone building. She didn't raise her head when the thought came to her, but she grinned sadistically to signal it.
"The only way I know how."
-
-
"Had enough?" Mara barked, her knuckles white on the lash handle. Kyle's back was now streaming and dripping blood, the red liquid pooling beneath him. His vision began to swim before him from blood loss, and he did his best to keep from blacking out. He kept his silence though, and that infuriated his captor. Mara growled, raising the whip for another round . . .
The stone wall two inches from where Kyle was hanging burst inwards, the stone exploding outwards from the battering ram that was Scythe's skull. Dust flew everywhere, blanketing the scene in a cloud of black-gray powder. Mara threw herself to the ground to avoid the spray. When she looked up though, she found two extremely bloodthirsty-looking zoids hovering over her, ready to squash her like a little annoying wasp. Mara let out a growl, sitting up, her eyes glowing green and her hands starting to gather energy . . .
-
-
The chains that had been holding Kyle's legs to the wall broke loose from the sheer shaking of that stone wall when it was broken through. By this time though, he was too numb in his mind to notice. Though he did notice when the iron holding his left hand was snapped off, leaving him hanging by his right. He lifted his eyes tiredly to look up at what was burning through his chains, and he let himself fall when those shackles came undone. He winced, his back going aflame by the mere touch of a steadying hand to his shoulder, even when somebody caught him as he fell, soft arms going around his chest to slow his fall. Through the haze that was his vision, he vaguely recognized a fairly tanned oval blob hovering over him; the rest revolving so quickly he couldn't exactly make the background out.
-
-
Audrena did her best to find a flat and debris-less part of the floor, dragging him as gently as she could. Finding such a spot, she had to curl him on his side because the area was very narrow, and she couldn't risk infection. She had seen the pool of blood on the floor when she first came in, and was now curious at what the extent of the damage was. Kneeling next to him, she leaned over, looking at his back. She turned her head as quickly as she could, feeling like she was going to be sick. So, Mara hadn't lost her touch in all these years. Instead, she turned her attention to his face, hoping he was at least conscious, and she wasn't dealing with a cadaver.
-
-
Kyle tried his best to grin, but his face didn't really want to. So instead, he tried to make visual contact with Audrena, to try and get his message across. He did end up smiling, through his eyes. He hoped Audrena would see it.
"Knew you'd come Audren." He murmured in the loudest voice he could muster at that moment, sounding strained and exhausted but grateful and happy at the same time. Audren. So what if it wasn't her full name? It'll be a nickname for her, at least, that what he'd call her. All this stumbled through his listless brain; it had certainly seen better days.
-
-
With a large pistol-like injection needle, Audrena inoculated him with a convalescent hypo; a drug chemically engineered to stimulate intense healing speed, so the patient would be up and about within minutes. It only worked on muscle, skin, and nerve damage, and it couldn't repair everything, but it was the best that she could do in a short amount of time. She risked a glance at his face and caught sight of something strange. He was smiling at her, well, at least trying to. But his silver- grey eyes were shining with gratitude and livid trust. She blinked, confused.
-
-
"Knew you'd come Audren." He whispered hoarsely, and from his voice, she could tell that Mara had gotten him pretty well. Despite herself, she could feel her eyes stinging, the forerunner of tears in her eyes. Audren, a pet name for her, a sobriquet only for her. She stared back into his eyes for a moment, reading him like an open book. He was so innocent, so completely innocent . . . he shouldn't be here, suffering like this. He shouldn't have been in such afflictions as this; he should be out with normal people, living a normal life, instead of caught up in this deadly chess game. Incredible guilt was heavy on Audrena's shoulders in that moment.
'One long past decision dragged you unwillingly and unknowingly into this mess.' She thought to herself, running the back of her fingers along his jaw line in an attempt to comfort him in his pain. She rejected it, but knew that this was a warning sign that Mara had shown, of what was going to happen to her. 'You suffered because of my sister's hatred for me. You were caught, like so many others before you, in this stupid rivalry that should had ended years ago, if Mara had let old feelings go like any sane person should have. I'll try not to let that happen again . . .'
-
-
Focused for a few moments that seem to stretch for a few cherished hours, Audrena's face slid back into the blur that was creeping back over his vision. He vaguely felt the hand that was stroking his cheek, and a strange feeling came out of it. An unusual, but very pleasant thought came to his muddled mind, and the tone in his eyes changed for a moment to reflect that thought before he passed out quietly from blood loss, the convalescent hypo having not restored his blood levels yet.
She could have gone on thinking at him, trying to atone for what she had dragged him into, but was shocked out of her chain of thought when she saw a dramatic change in the emotions in his eyes. It was something she had only seen in the movies, or with zoids on whom she had installed the experimental reproductive systems.
A tender gaze, from hazel eyes that never lied.
A loving look, delivered from a glance that stung her heart like a poisoned arrowhead. No way! This couldn't happen! It was impossible! No one cared! She had lived by the code all her life, and now . . . someone loved her? Audrena shook her head violently. No way! It can't happen. It's never happened, and it never will happen. She shook it off, looking down at Kyle's face cautiously, only to see that he had gone unconscious. Two things went off, a warning bell and a mental sigh of relief, but she shook it off. Remembering that Mara was here too, her long-lived hatred and boiling anger resurfaced, doubled in strength by the fact that her friend had been hurt . . .
Audrena took one last look into Kyle's face with an apologetic gaze, turning her head to Mara, standing there victoriously over the fallen Scythe, numerous burnt holes in the snow-white armor. Fury was still there, but had backed away, nudging the frozen liger's carcass. The zoid pilot's eyes narrowed, the irises of her eyes actually turning black as she rose, a red rim beginning to appear in the unconceivably enraged Audrena's eyes. The silence and tension between the two sisters rose to a fevered pitch, until Audrena, not being able to hold it in anymore, curled her small fists and let out a bellowed growl, almost animal-like in it's fervor.
"MAAAAAARAAAAAA!" -
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Woo! *Pats Kyle* Poor Kyle! He got tortured! But he's going to get his revenge, as will Audrena, in the chapter coming up next, where the conflict will make the fight you have with your parents or siblings look like child's-play! See you at Chapter 7, A Year's Hello and a Minute's Goodbye! (I'm finally using that chapter name! Yay!)
